Citrus Pepper Chicken with Quick Pickled Red Onions

I am currently working on a project that sees me up in Manchester most days of the week. With a lull in work this week I was able to come home late the other night and actually eat home cooked for a few days (crazy how excited that makes me!)

Having a glut of citrus in the kitchen from last weekend, I played the "Get Gerry To Pick A Protein" game (the closest I can get him to naming what he wants for dinner!) and DING-DING-DING we got winner winner chicken dinner!

So I played around with the cupboard and came up with a nice marinade, and decided it needed some zing, so whipped up these awesome pickled onions that I have been making for years and so really should share with you lot!

So without further ado....come on down!

Citrus Pepper Chicken with Quick Pickled Red Onions

For the chicken:
Juice of 3 limes
Juice of 3 lemons
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 teaspoon of freshly cracked black pepper
1 teaspoon of lemon pepper (or use more black pepper)
1 teaspoon of salt
2 garlic cloves, crushed
8 skinless chicken thighs (I like them with the bone in)

For the Pickled Onions:
3 large red onions, thinly sliced
350ml of cider vinegar
2 star anise
2 bay leaves
8 peppercorns
8 coriander seeds
1 tablespoon of caster sugar

For the chicken: Combine the juices, oil, peppers, salt and garlic in a ziplock bag and shake well to mix. Toss in the chicken, mix well and refrigerate overnight or for at least 2 hours (mix everything around every so often to make sure it is well marinated). When ready to cook, heat a grill pan over high heat and cook the chicken for about 3 minutes each side to get nice char marks, then place them on an oven tray and roast at 180 degrees for 10-15 mins to cook through.

For the pickled onions: Put the sliced onions in a colander and pour over a kettle of boiling water (I usually do this three times to really soften the onions). Sterilise your pickling jars (I like the lazy way of running them through the dishwasher on a hot cycle with no detergent). Bring the vinegar and other ingredients to a simmer for 10 mins, and  fill your pickling jars carefully with the onions, then pour in the vinegar mix (for me this does two 400ml jars) putting the whole herbs on top of the jar at the end. Seal and stick somewhere cold and dark.

The onions will keep for two weeks after opening in the fridge, or up to six months if unopened.

Serve with a good dollop of the lush red onions, and some sliced avocado, tomatoes and a wedge of lime (I just had some zucchini to use up as shown in the photo above!)

Serves 4 (or 8 if you are only eating one thigh!)

Nutritional Info (this approximate is according to MyFitnessPal)
Per Thigh: 109 calories, 9 grams of protein, 7 grams of fat, 3 grams of carbs (sneaky bastards get in everywhere), 1 gram of sugar and 3 grams of iron

Not calculated the onions - you only use a fork full and this makes about 4 cups!

Note: the leftover chicken, shredded, mixed with some onions and placed into a baby gem lettuce leaf made a very nice leftovers lunch for me today!

Haddock and Broccoli Pie

This week we moved into the sweetest little cottage in Twyford, about 40 miles west of London. I have not had access to a decent kitchen for about 3.5 years, I was prepping food upstairs on my desk/dining table/dumping ground then either slow cooking it upstairs, microwaving it, or transporting it downstairs to the stove.

But amongst the boxes and detritus of a house move, I was determined to cook for Good Friday (aka Pants-Free Friday - but that is another story!)

One of publications from home that I still read religiously since leaving Australia is the Donna Hay magazine - I love her recipes, they are guaranteed to inspire and delight, and I have an electronic subscription that pings it to my iPad every two months like clockwork. I spotted her Caramelised Leek and Broccoli Fish Pie a few weeks ago and knew that I wanted it to be the first thing I cooked in the new house.

Since having the surgery, I am more conscious of what I eat. I have cut right back on carbs and fats, hardly ever touch alcohol and my portions are tiny. Yes, me hardly touch alcohol. Crazy talk but true.

So to the pie. And happy Eatser....sorry Easter!

Haddock and Broccoli Pie (inspired by Donna Hay)

150 grams fresh sourdough

75 grams flat leaf parsley

75 grams unsalted butter, melted

sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper

1/2 cup of chicken stock

2 leeks, white part only, thinly sliced

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

Head of broccoli, florets separated

600 grams fresh haddock (or other firm-fleshed white fish), cut into 3cm pieces

1 tablespoon of cornflour

150 grams reduced fat sour cream

150 mls of water

2 tablespoons of Dijon mustard

Preheat the oven to 200C degrees. While the oven heats, put the torn up sourdough, parsley, sea salt and pepper to taste into a food processor and blitz until you get a nice mix of crumbs and a few chunks of crust. Drizzle in the melted butter and blitz to mix. Spread the crumbs on a lined baking tray and toast in the oven for 10 minutes or until lightly golden....ok...so I toasted a little long, and lost a quarter of the crumbs to a charcoal like state...but I just pushed those ones to the side. Less carbs is a good thing!

While the crumbs cook, heat a large ovenproof fry pan on the stove. Add the chicken stock, leek, garlic and broccoli and saute covered for about 10-15 minutes until softened, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, toss the fish with the cornflour and season with salt and pepper.

When the vegetables have softened, add the sour cream, water and mustard and stir to mix well, add the fish and stir again, then place the whole thing in the oven for 10 minutes. Once cooked, sprinkle over the breadcrumbs and enjoy!

Normal Serves = 6 (I eat about half a serve)

Calories: 470 | Protein: 35 grams | Fat: 14 grams | Carbs: 51 grams | Sugar: 4 grams | Iron: 26 grams (according to MyFitnessPal)

Things I will do differently next time: I have already halved the amount of butter by using stock instead of butter to soften the vegetables...I will next time use no butter on the crumbs, and instead spray them on the tray with 5 squirts Fry Light light olive oil spray (at 1 calorie per squirt). This would drop the calories to 377, and the fat to 4 grams - much better!

30 Second Poached Eggs

Yes, you read that right. Poached eggs in 30 seconds. No swirling, no vinegar, and no waiting!

After gastric sleeve surgery, we eat such small amounts, and they need to be protein rich, low fat, tasty, perfect bites. Eggs tick all of those boxes. One large poached or hard boiled egg gives 6 grams of protein, 5 grams of iron, and is only about 70 calories.

When I was first post-op, runny scrambled eggs were the go. Over the months, I have switched to hard boiled and poached as an easy meal - especially after a session at the gym.

Poaching eggs in the microwave is so easy. I use a small ramekin, you could also use a mug.

Fill the ramekin half full with cold water (if using a mug, go for about a third of the height of the mug in water). Carefully crack an egg in and microwave for 30 seconds (in a ramekin, about 45-60 seconds in the mug). Use a spoon and place the egg on a piece of kitchen paper to drain and you are done. You may need a little bit of trial and error depending on the strength of your microwave (mine is 900 watts).

Simples. So simple, even the Hussyband could make it (if he was out of bed before lunchtime on a weekend)!

This morning I had mine with two slices of smoked salmon (91 calories and 12 grams of protein), the yolk oozed out unctuously, you could add some toasted sourdough, and/or blanched asparagus to this to make it a larger meal. Or if you are up for the ultimate indulgence, turn it into an eggs benedict with the addition of hollandaise sauce and a muffin (but no carbs for me please!)

Soy Marinated, Wasabi Deviled Eggs

On a naughty weekend away a few years ago in Paris, we had the most amazing deviled eggs over cocktails with our best man (and my adopted brother) Matt. I have been meaning to try to recreate these beauties for a while now, and a Xmas potluck this week gave me the perfect opportunity.

These little puppies are low in fat, high in protein, and oh-so moreish! I dare you to eat just one!

Postscript: You are probably wondering why the photo at the top is a sketch and not a pretty image of the following recipe. My piping bag exploded all over me and the table as I was filling the eggs. I managed to salvage enough to spoon fill the eggs, and they in turn were consumed before I thought to take a picture!

Ingredients
12 eggs
375mls soy sauce
60mls hot water
2 tablespoons of siracha
4 tablespoons of white sugar
4 tablespoons of mirin (rice wine vinegar) + 2 tablespoons extra
1/2 cup of reduced fat mayonnaise
2 teaspoons of wasabi paste
2 green onions (scallions), minced

Steps

1. Hard boil the eggs - if in doubt, place the eggs in a large saucepan and cover with cold water to an inch above the eggs, bring to the boil, stick a lid on them, turn the heat off and leave for 13 minutes. Drain and place in a cold water and ice bath to cool. When cool, peel and set in a glass bowl.
2. Make the marinade - whisk together the soy, water, siracha, sugar and 4 tablespoons of mirin until the sugar has dissolved. Pour the marinade over the eggs and leave covered in the fridge to marinate for 4-24 hours.
3. Devils in the detail - slice the eggs in half when ready to serve, scoop the yolks out into a separate bowl and mash with the extra 2 tablespoons of mirin, mayonnaise, wasabi paste and green onions. Pipe or spoon the yolk mixture back into the egg whites. Sprinkle with green onions and or thinly sliced red chillies and chill until ready to serve.

Makes 24 halves, about 50 calories each (as you don't actually eat the marinade, according to MyFitnessPal).

Bone Broth - It's Just Stock For Fuck Sake

So there is a huge furor over the last year or so about Bone Broth being the next big thing in healthy eating. As part of my pre- and post-op diet I have to drink clear liquids - water, tea, broth.

Let me get this straight. There is NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BONE BROTH AND STOCK. Yes, this may get me stoned by some hipster gods and goddesses, but come on, I am an Aussie, and I call a spade a fucking shovel.

I am doing a mixture of store bought clear soups/stocks as well as making a batch a week each of chicken and beef stocks. It is dead simple, especially if like me you use a slow cooker as you can just bung it all in and forget about it for 24 hours.

Hint: Make friends with your local butcher - especially if he breaks down his carcasses (not all do these days) - they will be free or very cheap.

Ingredients:

• 2-3 kgs of beef bones (or 2 chicken carcasses) - Note: the beef ones I like to roast them for an hour or so at 180 degrees to get some colour into them which brings a bit of depth to the stock - Oh, and you can also use lamb/mutton for variety, or a mix
• 1 large onion, roughly chopped
• 2 leeks, white part only, roughly chopped
• 2 carrots, roughly chopped
• 2 celery stalks, roughly chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, bashed and peeled
• A splash of apple cider vinegar (optional - but it helps break the bones down)
• Water
• Salt and pepper, to season to taste as you go

Bung all the ingredients into your slow cooker, or a stock pot, and cover with water - ideally about 2 inches above the bones. Turn it on high (slow cooker) and then go and have a life for 24 hours. Seriously, you don't NEED to touch it. You can skim the foam from it every so often if you want, but it isn't essential. If doing it on the stove, bring to the boil, then turn it down to a simmer and treat it with the same indifference for 12-24 hours.

Allow to cool fully before straining through a fine mesh sieve, or a thicker colander lined with muslin, throwing out all the bits. Season to taste and refrigerate. Once it has cooled, remove the solid fats from the top of the bowl.

You can keep the stock in the fridge for up to 3 days, or a couple of months if you portion it up and freeze it like I am doing. I am portioning in 1 litre lots but go for whatever works best for you.

The plus side of this is that when I can move onto thin soups (strange how that thought excites me!) I will have a ready stash of good home-made stock as my base to ensure healthy nutrient and protein rich meals.

Tell me my friends, what are your favorite soups?